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World History
A character proficient in history would probably know this information. The Theomachy The planes of reality within which Keren rests, known as the Etlues Planes in the Draconic language, were created during the Theomachy, a war between the gods that continues with Keren serving like a chess board for them. Each of the outer planes serving as home realms for specific types of creatures, including the Abyssals, the Celestials, the Infernals, and the Fey. Io, the supernal dragon, fashioned the Primal Plane at the core of the multiverse out of his own essence. This Primal Plane was divided into the Inner Planes during the Sundering. The Dracomachy After forming the Primal Plane, Io created the metallic and chromatic dragons to rule there with Bahamut & Tiamat as their respective leaders. Almost instantly, the two factions fell upon each other and a new cosmic war had begun. The Dracomachy brought about the Sundering which tore the Primal Plane apart to create nine new realms: prime material, the elemental and the astral planes. Fearing that the dragons would tear reality itself apart, the Celestial gods stripped them of some of their power. They cast Tiamat into the Infernal Plane and brought Bahamut into the Celestial Plane. Most of the other dragons fled into the new Prime Material Plane and the physical world of Keren. The Age of the Eladrin The Seldarine of the Feywild had bred among themsleves during the Draconic Age. Their demigod children they named the Eladrin, the "First Elves" of which there were originally just five. These five became the leaders of factions of Fey who began to explore the neighboring plane, often in competition with one another. Then one of the Seldarine, Araushnee, fell into evil. She schemed against the other Seldarine and attempted- but failed- in a coup. She was banished to the Abyss. The Seldarine banished several factions of Eladrin to the physical plane either for being tricked by Araushnee and in the case of Araushnee's own daughters, outright treason. These exiles arrived in Keren less than a millenia after the dragons. Calling themselves the Tel'Quessir, the three races of elves would later be known as the High Elves, Wood Elves, and Drow. They separated from one another immediately. The high elves settled into the vast temperate forest of Jhalass and developed a civilization there, but were forced to contend the chromatic dragons in the nearby mountains. The wood elves who settled into the subartic forests of what became southern Vallahir had better relations with the metallic dragons that neighbored them to the south. The third faction, the drow, retaliated against the Seldarine by making pacts with the chromatic dragons and helping them attack the other elves and the good dragons. This led to a long war which was joined midway by two other elder races, the dwarves and girants. The dwarves were created by the Celestial god Moradin and quickly became allies of the metallic dragons. The first giants, also created by Moradin, actively worked against all the other races whenever opportunities arose. Eventually, the drow were driven deep into the Underdark, a chthonic labryinth of subterranean caverns deep under Keren's surface. The Rise of the Younger Races Keren had caught the attention of the other planes. A number of creatures, humanoid and others, began to appear in the world. Some were native to Keren, others hybrids of Keren natives and otherworld visitors. Seeded throughout the continent and eastern islands, these younger races lacked the longevity of the Elder races, but had high fecundity and began to spread quickly across the world. Humans were the last to appear, well behind the orcs, trolls, gnomes, halflings and goblinoids. These other races had an long age to form clans, tribes, and civilizations which rose and fell in wars and magic-created cataclysms. Lawful races fought chaotic ones; evil races attacked their good neighbors in an era of endless conflict before humans appeared. The Age of Magi The first humans were so short-lived and unimpressive that they almost went unnoticed in their wandering bands along the eastern and western coasts. They made easy prey and were treated as slaves or livestock by more powerful beings. However, five young good dragons took pity upon humanity and took from their numbers the most promising to be their lovers and apprentices. The first human wizards -the Dragonkin- came into being. While humans were notoriously frail and short-lived, the dragonkin wizards learned to extend their lifespan and therefore the amount of magic they could achieve and teach to their own progeny. They founded the nation of Sharne as a magocracy. The Keren calendar was introduced in Sharne. During this same time period, the elven, Dragonborn and dwarf-gnome civilizations reached their own peak of arcane excellence. All of Sharne's founders were good by nature, but as they achieved power over time, many also fell prey to hubris. Some shifted in alignment, others simply made poor choices in who they took on as apprentices. The teachings of the dragons had brought about five Schools of Magic: Abjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Illusion and Transmutation. On their own, the wizards of Sharne discovered Conjuration, Evocation and Necromancy. Many of the wizards became warped and twisted and began using their powers for evil. They were repudiated by their draconic ancestors, but the magi of Sharne began to enslave any younger dragon they could get their hands on. A handful of wizards fled south to human settlements and used their powers to help raise up more lawful and good nations there, taking up an oath to oppose slavery in all its forms. The age of Magi came to an abrupt end about a thousand years ago when Sharne fell into a cataclysmic civil war that turned most of the nation into a desolate wasteland and a shockwave called the Spellstorm reverberated through Keren, toppling almost all the ancient civilizations, creating the Shadowland of Thanos among other things. This event became known as the Shattering. The Dark Age The elder and younger races alike were harmed in the Shattering. Many fell into barbarism or else locked themselves away from all contact with the outside. Magic itself became and hard to control, often killing the wizards trying to master it. At the same time, however, clerics, druids, and witches began to appear. Their magic was not the arcane schools of the wizards but tied directly into prayers made to gods and spirits of nature and the elements. Human interbreeding (willingly and other) with other species became common. Humans were the quickest race to recover from the Shattering and began to create feudalistic kingdoms for themselves throughout Keren. Human controlled cities and trade towns began to develop along the great rivers and coasts five hundred years ago. A series of wars and conflicts between the rising nations caused a great flux in borders and created a vast number of ruins, abandoned towers and keeps that were claimed all manner of dread creatures. However, Lycanthrophy, vampirisim, and possession by ephemeral creatures of the other planes became common threats within the new cities while the monster races continued to plague rural villages. The New Era Faolan, a human kingdom along the west coast emerged from the Dark Ages with a thriving medieval society greatly advantaged by coming into peace with the elves of Jhalass and the dwarven clans to the east and southeast. The early kings were themselves often possessed at least some elven heritage. The modern era was hallmarked with the rise of young King Cállam Pelorson who, fulfilling a promise made to the Dragonsback dwarves by his father, took an army south to the Ice Coast and drove out an invasion of goblinoids. King Xaban Battlebeard rewarded him generously and trade routes began to open along the western kingdoms. King Cállam successfully ruled for nearly sixty years. He was able to successfully negotiate the Treaty of Five Kingdoms, a document signed by the human, dwarven, and elvish leaders of Vallahir, Faolan, Jhalass and Myrtlevale as well as the Dragonborn of Io's Vale in Bitterbog. This enabled trade to greatly expand and saw the formation of trade and guild cartels with the Mercantile Alliance rising swiftly to preeminence. The Five Kingdoms agreed to honor and protect the worship of the Celestial Gods and made the worship of any infernal or abyssal power illegal, along with the practices of slavery and necromancy. Following King Cállam's death in 64 ME, his 30 year old granddaughter Jaiyana, herself a half-elf, took the throne and moved the nation's capital from Castle Llyn to Faerdale. Queen Jaiyana's first husband had died in a campaign against the hill giants of northwestern Chenaanah. Upon her succession, Jaiyana made a political marriage with Prince Demarco Cath, the younger brother of King Luther Cath of Savas. To the Queen and King were born two sons and a daughter before Demarco attempted to poison his wife and usurp the throne two decades ago. Queen Jaiyana survived the poisoning. Demarco was eventually discovered and executed- a war nearly began between Faolon and Savas, but Queen Jaiyana was convinced by allies to stay her hand. It is now 94 NE- and Queen Jaiyana's own health is starting to fail. Her eldest son, Crown Prince Conall, abruptly went missing a year ago while serving as an envoy to the Vale of Io. The grief stricken queen has not declared another heir among her remaining children and grandchildren. The nation is uneasy, especially with reports of growing attacks throughout the Five Kingdoms by orcs, goblinoids, evil wizards and sorcerers, outlaws, and terrible savage beasts, the like of which have not been seen for centuries. To combat these threats to their trade routes now stretching throughout Keren, the Guildmasters of the Mercantile Alliance have begun to organize an Adventurer's Guild to protect their caravans, hunt goblinoids and other monsters for bounty, and seek out lost treasures from the various ruins and strongholds controlled by evil forces that are sprinkled throughout the land. A wide variety of races and classes are being recruited into the new Adventurer's Guild, which has the support of Queen Jaiyana and King Xaban Battlebeard among others. Category:History